Posts Tagged ‘Burgundy France’

I received a pre-publication uncorrected proof copy of “The Winemaker Detective” by Jean-Pierre Alaux and Noel Balen, translated into English by Le French Book translators Anne Trager and Sally Pane. The paperback version was published in English translation in December 2015. This French cozy mystery is aimed at those who enjoy “Murder She Wrote” type plots in French wine country settings. Like “Murder She Wrote” the books in the Winemaker Detective Series are being made into a successful television series seen in France and other French-speaking countries. This collection includes the first three books in the series.

Each book represents an independent plot tied together with two amateur detectives and winemakers, Benjamin Cooker and his young employee, Virgile Lanssien. Cooker is a fifty-something product of a French mother and British father. He grew up in London but spent his summers on the acreage owned by his French grandparents, which he eventually inherited. Cooker is a curious mixture in personality, temperament and interests of his Franco-Britsh heritage. He spends a lot of his time driving around the French countryside in his beloved Mercedes exploring different wine-making regions and reviewing the best vintages in each one. Along the way he runs into many eccentric and a good many shady characters. The plots include industrial sabotage of the product of a winemaker in Bordeaux; the murder of a call girl and a hotel clerk, and theft of fine wines in the Loire Valley; and the murder of two graffitti artists in Burgundy.

Each book is highly descriptive. Those who enjoy travel will get to know the French wine regions quite well through Cooker’s adventures. The plots are intriguing, as well, so that it is easy to see why this mystery series makes for successful television in France. I have to admit, however, that some of the detective work drags on as Cooker and Virgile find themselves retracing their steps in order to pick up new pieces of information, and there is not a lot of action. The pace is more sedate than I generally like– again, rather like episodes of “Murder She Wrote”.

Still, the series will have wide appeal within the British and American mystery-reading market, and particularly for those who enjoy a bit of armchair travel and lots of detailed descriptions of great French food and wine.